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May 14, 2013

Filthy Music Review - 'Beyond Creation: The Aura'

Beyond
Creation – The Aura (2013)

Season of
Mist

Review by
Jude Felton

Technical
death metal, it has to be said, when done poorly can sound like an angry
two-year old throwing a tantrum in a music store. However, on the flipside,
when it is done well, it can be a thing of beauty, albeit a complex and
aggressive beauty, but a thing of beauty nonetheless. This brings us to Canada’s
Beyond Creation, a relatively new band, having formed in 2005 yet only released
the one demo in 2010. This was followed by a self-release of The Aura in 2011,
which now has a full release courtesy of Season of the Mist.

First off, I’d
just like to say I am glad to see The Aura get this new release, which comes
with an added bonus track, as otherwise I may not have heard the damned thing.
Although a very technical album, which does border on self-indulgence at times,
it is also a fresh blast of metal majesty where the songs do come first.

Sure, the
entire band seems to be incredibly proficient on their instruments, especially
in the bass department from Dominic LaPointe, and they show it off so well.
This is just as well though as the songs and style of music they play requires
this skill level. Aside from the death metal aspects, of which is the majority
of The Aura, you’ll also find little snippets of prog tendencies hidden with
these hefty slabs of death metal precision.

Vocally, it veers
between real guttural growls and some deathcore styled screams, which to tell
the truth just adds to the musical depth on display here. Due to this depth you
are going to want to give The Aura a few spins, on whatever death decks you
possess, in order to fully digest it. It is a fairly lengthy album, clocking in
at just under an hour, and with so much going on you will miss half of it the
first few times.

That only
helps the album though, as it gives it a sense of longevity, which isn’t always
the case in death metal. This fact in further enhanced by the fact that two
years after its initial release The Aura still sounds incredibly fresh and
exciting.

With a
sub-genre that has been banging about since the 80s it is great to hear bands
delivering albums that make you stand up and listen. I’m not saying that Beyond
Creation is doing anything that hasn’t been done before, but what they do they
do so very well. As a young band this only bodes well for the future and with
The Aura slaying my eardrums on a regular basis I can only look forward with
eager anticipation.

Beyond
Creation have delivered an excellent album, with The Aura, which manages to
blend technical, progressive and furiously brutality into one quite remarkable
album.